Reviews

Pulitzer's Gold is a goldmine of inspiration for both journalists and non-journalists. Those in the newspaper business, who now find themselves obsessing about staff cutbacks and circulation declines, should embrace this book as a reminder of the highest ideals, and the absolute thrills, to be found in their profession. As for regular readers, Pulitzer's Gold offers marvelous storytelling, real-life adventures, and absolute proof that journalism can change our world for the better.

Wall Street Journal senior writer and columnist Jeffrey Zaslow, whose books include the best-selling The Last Lecture, written with Randy Pausch.

It is a must read for those who want an inside look at journalism at its best. There is no higher calling among American newspapers than public service journalism, and Roy Harris delves into it with flair and expertise. He tells us why and how extraordinary stories were done.

Gene Roberts, co-winner 2007 Pulitzer Prize for History, and former executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and managing editor of the New York Times.

On HuffingtonPost.Com, Vanity Fair investigative reporter and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Jim Steele wrote this March 7, 2010, review. Steele's view of the Pulitzer's Gold: This is a magnificent book on so many different levels. The stories themselves – the origin of the award, the recipients, the occasional intrigues – all are worthy topics. But Pulitzer's Gold does something even richer by reminding us of the glorious calling that is journalism and how far back it goes. It is reassuring to see how many such heroic efforts have been made over time. That reflects the depth of the research and the details on so many little-known (or unknown) episodes in our past.

"This is the story of reporters who started out raking the muck and ended
up mining for gold. It's also a unique lens for viewing some of the most
important
events of the twentieth century.... While celebrating some of the most
important achievements of the now-maligned mainstream media, it underscores
the need to find ways of continuing such journalism in the shrinking newsrooms
of
the new and fast-changing multi-media world.
—Anthony Marro, former editor,
Newsday

Katrina evacuation by the Times-Picayune staff

"Harris describes Pulitzer's Gold as being for journalists and students
seeking to learn about great newspaper work as well as for American history
buffs. The book touches a larger audience: people interested in a good read;
readers looking for good efforts that make a difference; those who believe in
fighting for something worthwhile; and citizens who want to better understand
society.
—Karen Brown Dunlap, President and Managing Director, The Poynter
Institute

At a time when the business model of the American newspaper lies broken, this
book tells us, by vivid examples, why newspapers are essential to our national
well-being. It is a sobering yet inspiring message.—John S. Carroll, former
Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, and Lexington Herald-Leader editor, and
Pulitzer Prize Board member from 1993 to 2002

Bernstein, Katharine Graham & Woodward

I have read lots of books about investigative and other public service
journalism. So when a book in that realm is fresh and exciting to me, that is
an accomplishment. Harris says he 'attempts to trace the development of
American journalism in a new way' by building cases from Pulitzer Prize Gold
Medal winners. He delivers on that promise. He also pledges to acknowledge
reporters and editors who may have gotten little personal attention at the time
because the Gold Medal is a newspaper honor, not an award for individuals.
Again, he delivers.
—Steve Weinberg, author of the best-selling Taking on the Trust

[The] ignorance about many of the 92 gold medals that have been awarded
through the years is finally remedied by Harris's splendid volume....

The chapter on the New York Times tells how ... Gerald Boyd, who had been
Times managing editor for only five days when terrorist-controlled jetliners
struck the World Trade Center, managed that week's 'battlefield coverage.'
Harris interviewed Boyd before his death in 2006. The priest sex abuse scandal
might have gone unknown had it not been for new Boston Globe editor Martin
Baron's decision on his first day on the job in 2001 to put a team to work
uncovering evidence that initially was sealed by judges.

These stories and many other engrossing tales are told by Harris in a fine
history of modern journalism that many forget about in an age of cutbacks and
mergers.
—Ted Gest, president of Criminal Justice Journalists, Washington, D.C.,
writing in the February 2008 St. Louis Journalism Review